Rumors And Liabilities
by TheWritingFactory
Summary: In the past few months, a rumor so small it was only spoken about in a few bars and docks in the northern corners of Arendelle, was now the cause of a frenzy amongst Elsas council members. This rumor had truly significant implications if proven true: it concerned the existence of a Viking tribe much larger and more dangerous than anything Arendelle or even Europe has experienced!
1. Rumors

**Hey guys so before I get to the authors note I would like to preface by saying this is technically not my first story, I wrote one a couple years ago called "Dragons and Ice Don't Mix" (Bad Title I know Lol) under the name HermanGarcia777 and I ended it prematurely because I honestly did not know what I was doing. You can still find it posted in the early days of the Httyd Frozen Fanfic page, but lets pretend it never happened... Unless if you want to see how bad it was go to the very first page of the Httyd Frozen Fanfiction section.**

 **Now to the real authors note**

 **.This is a HiccElsa fic and will be taking place approximately 2 years after the events in Frozen making Elsa 24 and Four years after the events in Httyd 2 making Hiccup 24 as well. Also the story has been for the most part planned and all that needs to be done is actually put it into writing, however I am open to some ideas.**

 **.Another change I made in terms of the franchises timelines is that I decided to place Frozens timeline in Viking times so their technology will be more in line with the tech of the age. However they will still be slightly more advanced then surrounding European countries (Berk is also slightly more advanced then other Viking tribes).**

 **. Also I will hopefully update on a regular basis, I want to commit to this story and be one of the few who finish their story's.**

 **.Most importantly this story has a soundtrack, I have amassed songs from the soundtracks of "How To Train Your Dragon 1 &2" and "Frozen" in order to enrich your reading experience, and I have linked the songs in the story. Also the location of the link will determine when to play the song (and if any confusion should arise I will cue you). **

**.Lastly please review I would love feedback about the quality of writing, ways I could improve, the soundtrack, etc. This is the first story I am really going to commit to, I want to improve and constantly increase the quality of the story in order for your enjoyment, please no flaming :)**

 **And a special thanks to Water-Star, she has so graciously helped me with the writing in this story and if it wasn't for her it would probably really suck, she also so kindly provided the title for my story. I cant thank her enough, so please go and read her story "Thaw Slowly" it is amazing like really good! I mean if you want a good HiccElsa fic "Thaw Slowly" is an excellent read.**

 **Again thank you Water-Star you are awesome :P :D!**

 **And thank you for even clicking on my story your awesome :D!**

* * *

Queen Elsa of Arendelle sat at the far end of the oval table in the small and private council room, listening intently to her council members as they discussed the legitimacy and implications of a very peculiar rumor that has recently spread through the slums and back alleys of her kingdom at a rather alarming rate.

"It's preposterous!" One council member exclaimed.

"Maybe not, there is a possibility that there is some truth in it..." another said.

"How is that possible?!" A third retorted. "The Vikings have been at each other's throats for over a 100 years!"

In the past few months, a rumor so small it was only spoken about in a few bars and docks in the northern corners of Arendelle, was now the cause of a frenzy amongst her council members.

This was quite strange; in reality this peculiar piece of gossip was very small and isolated, Elsa's royal guard had not even known about it, only recently was it discovered, and only a handful of villages in the north most parts of Arrendale's territory's had citizens who even possessed knowledge of this news. Yet this one was different.

Unlike other back alley bar talk, this rumor had truly significant implications if proven true: it concerned the existence of a Viking tribe much larger and more dangerous than anything Arendelle (or even Europe) has ever experienced.

And if what this rumor entails is true, then soon every alley and bar in Arendelle will be speaking of this.

This was quite worrisome due to Viking raids taking place regularly all around this vast continent, the Vikings were a powerful force - they attacked like a raging storm unexpected, terrifying, powerful and destructive.

They terrorized Arendelle and were quite a significant problem in all of Europe.

Recent raids along the northeast coast of Arendelle have left whole villages in smoke and ruins; as well one village in particular recently had a hospital completed right before a massive raid.

Elsa planned to visit that village in the coming weeks.

And yet despite their devastating force the Vikings had one major flaw: they consisted of small rival tribes and clans which often competed with each other for supremacy. Therefore, they have to dedicate resources - not only to raid and to fight other countries - but to fight each other. So despite how dangerous and devastating they are, their lack of unification and size meant that they can not bring down an entire army.

However, this is why talk about this Viking tribe were worrisome indeed...

From what little information her intelligence was able to acquire, this clan was quite different from typical tribes. For one thing, this particular group of individuals supposedly consisted of Viking warriors much larger and fiercer than the Vikings which commonly terrorized Europe. This horde is also supposed to be much larger than typical Viking tribes located around Arendelle or Europe.

Meaning that this group could rival - even surpass the army of an entire nation.

This had alarmed her council for obvious reasons, but as one of the members pointed out, there was a great chance that this was all merely another exaggerated old sailor's tale - not only because the said location of the tribe is unknown other than that it is in uncharted water far north, where no one can venture or else they will be frozen in a matter of days - but the tribe is also said to have an army of Dragons ruled by a man known as the _"Dragon Conqueror"_ , who not only tamed the beasts, but rode the fiercest and strongest of them all.

This had caused Elsa and her council to completely dismiss the notion of this kingdom to be false, arguing that anyone who lived that far north would surely die and that the existence of dragons was mere myth and folklore.

The council was just about to close the topic of the rumor in favor of a topic which seemed more real. However, just before she was about to end the current conversation, she recalled a couple reports which she thought might greatly influence the validity of the rumor.

Elsa then summoned Kai her advisor to go into her study and fetch the reports which she had just recalled.

After returning from his task, the butler handed Elsa a small packet which contained the reports.

The young ruler cleared her throat in order to gain the attention of her council, halting the current conversation they were having.

"I apologize for the interruption, but I recall a few reports which pertain to this rumor and might add some validity to it... The first couple of reports documented two particularly bad fires, and was brought to my attention not to long ago." Elsa said and looked back down at the report to make sure she stated the right information. "These fires were unusually large and damaging and the causes where for the most part unknown."

She continued to explain that the first file reported a spontaneous and particularly large fire that burned down half of a town, while the other file reported a fire which rapidly engulfed a large portion of a local Lord's estate.

"What is quite interesting about these cases is that they were completely isolated events; taking place in villages that are a day apart from one another, yet many witnesses claim that a creature that could only be described as reptilian with wings caused each disaster."

She then went on to explain that due to the fires taking place at night there was a lack of detail for the creatures. It was assumed that someone was careless and did not properly put out a camp or cooking fire, and either livestock or some wild animal was mistaken for a creature as they left.

"I brought this up because dragons are myth, yet I find it curious that the causes of the fires in each case were reported to be a creature which matched the description of said beast." She finished as her council pondered this.

watch?v=37-Mk4jC3LU&list=PLtyKXtrk46WDR0wFTtNacuPii4HjO19Ov&index=8 .Httyd 2 Extended Soundtrack: War Is What He Wants Son! ( **Play Now** )

The young Queen also brought to the council's attention a file from two years prior. Arendelle's navy had acquired a ship that belonged to the army of a man that goes by Drago Bludvist, a man who Elsa's guard had been keeping track of in order to determine whether or not he was a threat to the kingdom's national security.

When the crew of the ship was interrogated, they were in shock and absolutely terrified - not because of the interrogation itself after all, the crew was given immediate medical attention and food - but rather due to the fact that Drago was supposedly killed by a man known as the "Dragon Conquereor."

However, after sending a scout to Arrendale's northern docs to confirm if he was dead, the case was not further investigated. Instead, it was deemed that because the crew was malnourished and at sea for at least five months they most likely saw Drago's death and were traumatized by the events, and in response imagined his death to be at the hands of some powerful "Dragon Conqueror."

After Elsa finished recounting the files she then stated; "The files about Mister Bludvist could not have been leaked because only I and a few other officials from my cabinet & council knew about it. Not to mention, the crew from the ship itself was also paid quite a hefty amount of gold to keep quiet and were kept under constant surveillance to prevent any talking."

She paused and cleared her throat, before continuing, "People of the Council; the files I have brought to your attention, also have no relation to the rumor. These reports were all completely separate and independent events so for this rumor to speak of a "Dragon Conqueror" a title no other individual has heard outside of the investigation means he could be more real than we thought. Moreover, the recent reports of winged reptilian beasts even by a local educated lord implies that dragons themselves might be more real than we have previously considered."

Governor Ferdinand who despite being a very frail man remained quite outspoken, coughed quite loudly to clear his throat - one of his many tactics to ensure his opinions would be heard.

"Queen Elsa, permission to speak freely?" he asked.

She nodded, signaling to him to proceed.

"My fellow members of the council, in this situation I feel the entire rumor is being blown completely out of proportion. Why should we be concerned about this old sailor tale, Queen Elsa? I feel that the cases that you have presented have intriguing similarities with this rumor, but I believe this is nothing more than a coincidence." The old man took off his glasses to wipe them down before continuing. "Even if there is a possibility of the existence of a tribe of Vikings with dragons in their possession living in unknown lethal northern waters, their threat, I assume, is at least moderate - for our armies are quite powerful and if they would have attacked, they would have done so by now." He placed his glasses back on as he finished.

"Governor Ferdinand you are incorrect." General Arthur interjected, a bulky and large man with graying hair, he was Elsa's most trusted advisor in her cabinet and a father figure to her.

"I was the one who proposed the topic of this rumor to Her Majesty to be discussed today because of its implications. I do believe that there is truth to this; I recall when serving under King Agdar about twenty years ago, there were reports that a group of Vikings far North who were in deep conflict, and there was potential it could spread south."

He paused for a moment.

watch?v=hwmvNwl_yak&list=PLkOJB9BEJFI1Fklph_DKaprWL9G2oAzrI .Httyd Soundtrack: The Dragon Book. ( **Play Now** )

"We sent five vessels north to investigate, the expedition consisted of three large warships armed to the teeth and of the best design should conflict arise, and two small exploratory ship's. Three months later, a ship which looked as if it would sink at any moment and burned on every square inch, docked on the same pier in which the expedition was launched, by some miracle it stayed intact." He said with a sadness clearly present in his voice. "When it was boarded, all the men were gone except one young man in his twenties shaking from fear. We had tried to brief him, but all he could repeat was the word 'dragons.' We declared him insane and to explain why he constantly said 'dragons' - we assumed that he was attacked by Vikings, who he imagined were dragons due to their ferocity and the shock of such an attack."

The General then spoke with a sterner voice; "It can't be a coincidence that the crew from Drago's ship was traumatized by a Dragon Conqueror, and that this young man was rendered insane by an attack from dragons if everything discussed today was merely idle gossip."

The old Governor retorted; "So are you now claiming the existence of mythical creatures? Wonderful! Next you can declare that trolls exist!"

Elsa was thankful that the trolls were a family secret.

What had started as a heated discussion quickly turned into a full blown debate, as each the two men furiously quarreled against one another, both making valid points. Unfortunately, it influenced the other members and within minutes the entire council was divided as the whole room was filled with vehement statements coming from all ten members, causing Elsa to rub her forehead in irritation; this council meeting was currently going nowhere and she had more than enough of their bickering.

"Governor, I have served Arendelle's army as lead General for over sixty years - only second to King Agdar and now Queen Elsa - if this Viking tribe really exists then we need to start preparing for any potential attack!" he said furiously.

"General, the existence of dragons and his tribe is hogwash!" the Governor shot back.

Finally, she stood up and spoke with a voice that exemplified authority and demanded respect.

"Enough!"

The room immediately fell quiet. The council who were so infuriated, that by the time she had addressed them they were all standing up, were now slowly falling back into their seats, leaving her as the only standing figure in the room.

"Governor Ferdinand, if I am able to manipulate snow and ice to the degree that I can, does this not mean that there could be a creature who instead of being mere myth could be as real as Christ himself?" She said with a voice as cold as the winter she wielded so easily.

"And General, I understand your concern, however, we can't be so quick to assume the existence of a tribe like the one we have been discussing based on isolated events." She continued in a warmer tone.

"I will decide the course of action surrounding this rumor in due time, for now I will need to ponder my decision, meeting adjoined." She finished and sat back down.

With that the council members slowly walked out the room, however, the General stayed behind.

"My Queen, I apologize for my passion you know more than any that I place my duty to protect Arendelle above all else." He said apologetically.

"General no need to apologize I understand, for I have the same passion." She said before chuckling out, "Give that Governor Ferdinand can be quite infuriating."

The older man smiled. "Thank you, my Queen. Now if you will excuse me I do have some matters to attend to, have a pleasant day, Your Majesty."

The General bowed and exited the room.

Elsa sighed.

This rumor was causing her quite the headache, what would she do to resolve the dispute that her council members just had. What if the rumor was simply like Governor Ferdinand said an "old sailor tale" or like General Arthur said a threat to Arrendale's national security and that preparations needed to be taken ever in case of a potential invasion?

The young ruler got up from her seat and walked into the hallway, deciding she would ponder her predicament somewhere else. And yet as she walked through the quiet hallways Elsa was quite bothered by all this, having so many questions about about this tribe, and desperately needing answers.

What was this tribe like?

How did their leader tame dragons?

And before anything else, are they real?

Elsa decided to go to her private library - perhaps there is where her answers may lie.

She walked through the halls to her study room, greeting her servants as she walked by them.

Once she arrived to her study she made a beeline straight to the couple of relatively small but densely packed bookshelves in the corner of the room. She quickly skimmed through the covers of each book; looking for any that provided information on northern Viking tribes and any of which that told of dragons.

The fair-haired Queen collected quite the hefty stack of books and placed them with a loud thud on her desk, which was thankfully only a few feet away, and carefully grabbed the first one on top of the pile. Elsa picked up the large book and sneezed due to the heavy layer of dust which had collected on its cover, probably due to years of neglect of not being read. Elsa sneezed again as she wiped the dust of from the cover and gave the now clean book a closer inspection - she noticed it was titled "Northern Tribes and Clans." Intrigued, she flipped through the context and pages of the book and realised much her dismay, there was actually nothing on Vikings, just tribes surrounding that area.

'That was quite a let down...' She thought before moving onto the next one.

Elsa browsed every book she thought would be useful, flipping through the pages, reading and re-reading, looking for any that held information on Viking tribes that matched the description of the one from the rumor, but alas, nothing. The pile grew larger as she grabbed several more books from the shelves and continued scanning the contents of every one, searching for something - anything! And yet, not her efforts remained fruitless.

'This is going to be more difficult than I thought...'

The young woman had been in her study for so long that one of the servants came in with a small tea plate of assorted chocolates and a small pot filled with steaming tea, which smelled like jasmine, Elsa noted.

"Thank you," she said gratefully whilst the maid poured the steaming tea into Elsa's teacup, before curtesying and leaving the room.

The Queen took a sip of the hot beverage and picked up a rather small piece of chocolate and then went back to looking for any answers to this mysterious Viking kingdom.

After another hour or two passed as Elsa closed the latest book that once again proved useless, She started to feel the fatigue of such intense study.

Elsa got up and picked up another pile of text from her desk to return to the library. Elsa picked up the hefty pile and bent down in order to place the pile back in its rightful place. Once she exhausted the books from the old pile Elsa started to skim once again through the endless sea of books looking for any that might old valuable information.

That's when her gaze fell to one book in particular. It was placed behind some of the other books, probably because of a lack of space in the bookshelf. Elsa pulled it out and examined its construction, it was relatively thin compared to the other textbook like books and was a simple black color. Elsa pulled out the book and the cover read: "Expeditions to the Unknown of Northern Waters."

Elsa decided that this book will be the last one for the night and then she would retire to her bed.

She opened the front cover and looked at the aging paper, noting that it appeared to be for a journal, not for printed literature. She read through the thin book and it turned out it was a catalogue of all information and expeditions of northern waters, from the past 50 years. However, it was very peculiar, that this book was in her library? But that is a question for another day.

Elsa was quite surprised that in half a century there was almost no information on northern waters, and only a handful of exploratory missions. It was quite surprising, but as she read through the different catalogued expeditions there was a similar element throughout all of them.

Most of the expeditions never returned, however, the ones that did all reported, one or two of the original number of ships had returned, and each ship was scorched and burned on all sides with heavy damage, and with only a small fraction of the original crew alive.

The crews from each expedition that did return also showed a pattern. They were all reported as shaking in constant fear and their eyes darted around in constant alert.

If they saw an animal with any reptilian features they became even more terrified than they already were. Also, with the mere glimpse of fire or boiling water they started to scream in terror - almost as if they were being attacked by it...

Any surviving crew was hospitalized and declared insane. The cause was hypothesized to be a particularly brutal Viking attack while the expedition was on route to uncharted waters. Elsa was curious as to why each expedition all reported these strikingly similar results? No new information on the strange waters, destroyed ships, and any crew who survived the ordeal all had a fear of fire and dragons.

Elsa placed the simple book back down and leaned back in her chair pondering what she had just discovered, fiddling her thumbs as she did so.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading, see you later :D!**


	2. Liabilities

**.SORRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, Hey guys sorry for the long hiatus school this year has been crazy but its over so now I can give you the next chapter.**

 **.I'm not going to you hold up but know three things.**

 **1) I would really appreciate constructive feedback and reviews to help me improve my writing ya for some reason it was way more difficult to introduce Hiccup i was stuck for quite a while.**

 **2) Your awesome.**

 **3) Most importantly I would like to thank Water-Star she is not only an amazing author but is an even more amazing person by helping me with this story. Thank you so much Water-Star you are the best! On an unrelated note her story Thaw Slowly is utterly amazing like its probably the best Hiccelsa Fanfiction I have read on this site go check it out seriously!**

 **.As always I have included a soundtrack to add to the reading experience it is by no means necessary but it is recommended.**

 **.I do not own HTTYD,Frozen, and music presented in this chapter, it is simply used for telling a story.**

 **.Now Onto the Story!**

watch?v=UeTFvH4w_KY

.Soundtrack: Audiomachine: Beyond The Clouds

(Play Now)

Toothless twisted and turned, maneuvering through the air with grace that one would not expect for a creature of his size. Each beat of his wings, propelling him and Hiccup faster and faster, allowing them to perform stunts which would bring awe and wonder to an outsider viewing the wonderful show of ariel acrobatics.

They spun and and performed barrel rolls through and around the clouds, trailing behind them beautiful cones of air. The Ice and water from the clouds chilling them both and coating them with a fine layer of mist.

The pair then dived down and shot up vertically towards the sky using the momentum to get extra speed, Hiccup tightened his grip and pulled himself closer to his dragons body to further stream down the already sleek dragon.

Once they reached there highest point Hiccup appreciated just how small he was for the breif second he was up there, seeing the blue sea for miles and miles around and managed to see a lone green on the horizen, that was Berk. Hiccup smiled, but he also noticed a slight curve to the horizen, his mind confirmed what he already suspected from previous flights... The Earth was round.

But before he could make any more observations he started to feel weightless, Hiccup looked down and saw that Toothless was diving, Hiccup smiled and closed his eyes preparing his whole body for the speed he would soon be experiencing.

He braced himself and before he could even process it him and Toothless were speeding towards the sea at break neck speeds.

The deafening wind rushed passed Hiccup and Toothless as they dived from the sky at incredible speeds, reducing all sounds, even a roar to a mere whisper and rendering all forms of verbal communication between the duo completely useless.

But the wind was the last thing on the young Chief's mind, instead he simply focused on the sweet bliss that freefall brought; a feeling of pure joy and happiness, he felt more at peace speeding towards the ground at breakneck speed than laying down in the cove - a sweet irony how something that could easily bring death also brought such an overwhelming sense of peace.

As if free fall wasn't amazing enough, Hiccup was fortunate enough to experience and savor the feeling with his closest friend. Actually no, he could share this feeling with his brother.

Hiccup felt the wind flood through the gaps in his helmet, the first winter chills of the season cooled his entire head, freezing his worries and bringing with it a cold timeless sensation.

However sadly he could only be weightless for so long. Yet knowing that only added to the experience, because each and every dive was special and must be savored to have any real meaning; for there is only so much sky to fall through before hitting something - which they were about to do... Hiccup opened his eyes and saw that they were about to crash into Scauldron Sea.

Bursting into action, he repositioned himself on the saddle, clicking his prosthetic into the controls. With every second the pair got closer to the water, and just as they were about to impact the icy cold sea, Toothless shot out his wings, stopping them from plummeting into the dark depths below.

The sudden stop forced the air below the great dragon's wings to condense, making it slightly visible and forming a large dent in the otherwise flat sea. Hiccup braced his arms because the sudden change in speeds caused him to almost slammed his head into Toothless back

.Using the momentum from their dive, the pair flew parallel to the water at daring speeds; the ocean rippled and formed large waves as the ocean itself parted a way for the blazing dragon.

Hiccup yelled out as the adrenaline coursed through his body, energizing him with new life - it was absolutely exhilarating! The Night Fury feeling just as much excitement, shot a fireball and roared in contentment, before closing his eyes and letting his tongue roll lazily out of his mouth, as they flew through the giant mass of fire. Some of the dragon's saliva blew of the great beast's mouth and splattered onto his unsuspecting rider; coating a significant portion of his chest plate in a highly flammable substance, which also so happened to be next to impossible to remove.

"Thank you for nothing; you useless reptile." Hiccup said in defeat

He let out a sigh and bid a silent farewell to his eyebrows.

 **_**

  
The pair landed in front of their house, and due to the fireball, Hiccup's suit was now stiff and charred, leaving the young Chief with quite the struggle as he slowly climbed off the dragon's back, in a stiff,rigid and almost robotic fashion.

Hiccup moved his arm towards his chest to wipe the ash away from his now barbecued suit, crunching and cracking as he did so, his meager and futile attempts to cleanse himself only creating moreash. He let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

"You know Bud, not sure if you noticed but I'm not fireproof!" He said in a sarcastic tone.

Toothless chuckled in a rough and animalistic fashion.

"Hardy, Har, Har! Very funny!" The charred Chief said rolling his eyes, he took advantage of the dragon's moment of laxness and tackled the beast. "Hmmmph!"

Only, it was like hitting a brick wall: the dragon, not moving an inch, simply sat allowing the Chief to wrestle the larger creature. Hiccup went on for a minute on how he would he would defeat the mighty Night Fury with sheer strength and willpower, however, he never finished the speech for he tired quite quickly and all Toothless did was simply lay on top of him - completely pinning the poor Chief and rendering him immobile.

Hiccup tapped the ground, he exclaimed, "The Mighty chief of Bek has fallen to the might of the deadly Night Fury! My attempt at revenge failed you are still the undisputed wrestling champion of Berk!"

But the dragon was not so merciful, he started to lick the rider mercilessly, coating him in saliva. However, Toothless started to cough his entire mouth was now covered in black ash.

"Ha!" Hiccup exclaimed triumphantly as he managed to escape the dragon's grasp. Getting up, he added, "Serves you right"

Toothless swiped his tail in response, promptly knocking the young leader down.

"You can't let me have one, can you?" he asked as he laid there on the cold ground staring up at the vast blue sky.

The black dragon chuckled and slid his tail under the defeated Chief's back, lifting him up.

Hiccup smiled in gratitude and let out a chuckle towards his companion. "C'mon Bud, I'll meet you inside."

Pushing open the giant spruce doors of his house, Hiccup walked upstairs to his bedroom and began to remove his armor, whilst Toothless jumped onto the roof and made his way to his companions bedroom window.

'Looks like they're no longer usable,' Hiccup thought as he threw the ruined gear into a large basket, situated in the corner of room - specifically designed for this very purpose.

'Well at least I have extras.' He reasoned before changing into his usual dirty olive green shirt and brown pants. He then walked over to his mirror to examine his eyebrows and found much to his relief there was only minor singing, yet some embers remained but with a quick pinch they were gone. 'That would have been bad, since I've only just grown them back.'

While examining his face for more damage, he failed to notice the large dragon peering his head down through the window. That is until a loud roar startled the little viking he had left out of him.

"What in the name of Odin!" Hiccup said slightly panicked "Really Toothless can i get two minutes"

Toothless nodded 'no'

"Uuuuhhhhhh. I guess so" Hiccup walked over to Toothless "Hey bud so I was just seeing how much of my face you burned off!" whilst scratching the dragon's chin.

Toothless cooed a laugh

"At least try not to aim for the face next time." The Night Fury nudged his head closer to Hiccup's chest gently pushing him, knowing instantly what his friend was trying to say. "I know you want to come in, but you're a bit too big now."

Astonishingly, Toothless had grown a considerable amount since Drago's defeat. He now stood at the very least three heads taller than Stoick, and was too big to fit into Hiccup's room comfortably - so now he mainly occupied the roof which Hiccup modified to provide the upmost comfort to his companion; it sported extra iron support beams, a large slab of solid obsidian and a hefty basket for food and water - it was quite the cozy place for a dragon all things considered.

Also Hiccup to be in closer to Toothless, Hiccup added a obsidian porch supported by iron beams directly in front of his window so the dragon can nudge his head through the window frame and interact with him

"Alright we need to start packing, I don't suppose you can help..." Hiccup said lightheartedly.

Toothless let out a low grumble in response.

"I suppose not, so where should I start?" Hiccup wondered out loud to the curious dragon. He walked into his closet and started rummaging through the cluttered space until he pulled out a large lidded basket, which was tailored to fit around his companion's back.

'This will do,' the young Chief thought before back around to his companion.

"Hey Bud are you okay with wearing this and another basket for our trip?" He asked his companion.

Toothless quickly examined the straw basket before giving a nod of approval.

"Okay, I'll put the emergency gear and medical supplies here." He said as he sat it on his bed and opened it. He then walked over to his closet and pulled out the necessary medical supplies, making a mental checklist as he took out what he needed.

'One bottle of Night Fury saliva? Check. Two rolls of bandages? Check. Three bags of dried yarrow leaves and root for pain relief? Check. Two bottles of fresh and salt water each? Check. One roll of yarn and a needle? Check.'

"Finally, one clean cloth, and that should be my medical kit." Hiccup remarked as he collected all of the supplies and threw them onto his bed, wrapping them up in a large cloth and placing them neatly into the container.

"Oh almost forgot!" Hiccup remembered, running back to the wardrobe to pull out a large bottle of rum and threw it in with the rest of the medical supplies.

Toothless gave him a flat look.

"Hey you never know if there's a medical emergency, But." He simply remarked. "Okay now for your backup flight gear."

Opening a large shelf, the young Chief pulled out the flight gear which was wrapped in a thick leather sheet. "Okay, wonderful I have almost all the emergency gear."

Pulling out a small wooden box containing a variety of survival gear from under his bed, Hiccup checked its contents making sure it contained all the necessary supplies.

'Okay my pot, fire starter and knife are there but where is my rope...? Oh wait, there you are!'

"Alright, all the other important stuff is here." He closed the box, and placed it next to the medical supplies.

"And I already have the food and clothes packed in another bag, Toothless, I think we're ready to leave" Hiccup said, looking at the window and seeing the sunset. "We will leave a day from now before the sun comes back up, okay Bud?"

Toothless let out a gleeful roar.

Hiccup smiled in response, "Yeah I'm excited too. I think we definitely need it."

The understatement of the century. Two years after Drago's defeat, Hiccup and Toothless had been completely devoted to their duties as both Chief and Alpha, and even though Stoick and Valka's support meant the world to Hiccup, it was stressful.

He had become Chief during a difficult time: half of Berk was destroyed (which wasn't so bad, the village had plenty of experienced with destroyed houses), but because the rest of Drago's forces didn't know that their leader was gone, they came two weeks later, starting an intense battle; which resulted in three quarters of what remained of Berk to be wiped out.

Fortunately, there were only a few casualties and Drago's army was promptly defeated; their ships became the property of the Hairy Hooligans, the crews retreated and the dragons were freed, their armor was melted down and provided a hefty surplus of iron bringing tears to Gobber's eyes.

The very same iron was then later used to increase the weapon stock and repair, as well as reinforce some of Berk's infrastructure.

The village was repaired in a month's time, and all but one of the large ice spikes was melted down - the last one was left as a reminder of Berk's victory.

But that was only the beginning, if the young Chief could rely on anything, it would be the fact that there was always something to do and there was always a new problem that needed to be resolved. If it wasn't dealing with other hostile tribes and trying to establish a stable peace, it was a local feud with someone in the village, and if it wasn't that it was definitely a fire (it's always a fire) Hiccup sometime wondered how his dad dealt with the massive amount of responsibilities on the island. Yet this was only a small fraction of what Hiccup had to deal with, and Toothless, didn't have it any easier.

As Alpha, he was in charge of his own nest and if Vikings are rambunctious, dragons are even more so. Hiccup noticed how Toothless took up the responsibility of Alpha. He guides and leads the other dragons very effectively. He has also done an amazing Job preventing them from burning down the entire village (there were still many fires), stops any territory disputes, and protecting the nest from challengers who wanted his position as Alpha.

Hiccup guessed that news of a new Alpha spread like wildfire in the dragon world because a couple weeks later after Drago's had been defeated, dragons of all species came to challenge Toothless.

The Chief can recall each battle that took place as result of Toothless defending his position as Alpha, some the more notable fights that took place were against a green Change Wing, a large blue Thunderdrum, a Catastrophic Quake, Two leader Speed Stingers (most likely brothers), a Monstrous Nightmare, a Razor Whip, a Deathsong, a Stormcutter, a Whispering Death, even the Screaming Death was aware of the new Alphas position and challenged Toothless.

However, probably the most intense fight Hiccup had seen was with the Skrill as it even had its own Titan Wing form, similar to the Night Fury. Their match lasted for nearly a whole day and destroyed a large section of one of the surrounding islands around Berk.

It had been a sight to behold, but Toothless did eventually overcome the Skrill, and yet in all senses of the word, the Skrill and Toothless were definite equals - it was just in that particular battle Toothless had won.

What made these challenges particularly bad were their violent and destructive nature, and Hiccup had noticed in all his observations, that in all of the resulting fights the Dragons barely used their fire power and rarely flew, it was really a fight based on brawn. But they did use any other special abilities that they possessed.

But all of it pales in comparison to what Hiccup has seen Toothless go through during his time as Alpha….

The Younglings; they were ruthless and without a shred of mercy. What was even worse, was that Toothless would no longer allow Hiccup to help or intervene during these scenarios - doing so for his own protection.

He can only wonder how the previous Alpha dealt with such forces of nature on such a regular basis.

Sadly though Hiccup's and Toothless duties resulted in a strain on their relationship: the pair spent not nearly as much time hanging out with one another and it hurt Hiccup that he has not been able to spend time with his brother. Thankfully, this was no secret; as both of his parents had been noticing the stress mounting on the pair and how their duties had placed a tremendous weight on their relationship, which is why two weeks ago Valka and Stoick proposed that Hiccup take four months off, five if needed.

It was the best gift his parents could have ever given to the young Chief and he could not be more thankful to have them in his life.

Hiccup made his way to his bed and covered himself with his thick fur blanket, the warm light of his night table candle being the only source of light in his room.

"You know Toothless I think this will be an amazing trip just me and you exploring the unknown regions. We've already explored much of the north and I know there's more North to discover up there I'm sure of it, but that's for another trip because there is absolutely nothing on our map about the south - it's completely empty, so just imagine the possibilities new unexplored lands!" Hiccup said in pure excitement. "Maybe we will find the rare and elusive friendly village, and maybe southern dragons, and perhaps if we are really fortunate another Night Fury! Then again, from what I've seen of dragons here and from you, you guys seem to love the bitter cold. Well I guess you never know..."

Toothless crooned in agreement.

"I know, Bud. C'mon let's get some rest - we've got to handle a lot of business tomorrow in order to make sure Berk doesn't burn down while we are gone. What am I saying?! Dad's going to handle it! He was Chief long before me, but he has his ways with dragons…. Ummm okay I'm going need to rest in order to deal with that. Good night Bud, see you tomorrow."

Toothless crooned again preferring to sleep on the obsidian porch rather than the one on the roof. He started to circle around the slab, breathing a low powered continuous stream of fire and heating it to the pleasant temperature of scalding white hot. The radiating heat warming the Chief's room to a pleasant temperature in the process, just enough so the first winter chills of the season would not give him frostbite.

Once satisfied with his work, the black dragon circled a couple of more times before finally laying down facing towards Hiccup and wrapping his tail around himself so only the very tip of it dangled off the slab.

They both quickly fell into a deep slumber ready for the next day and trip ahead.

 **.So again I would like to thank Water-Star and you for all the support and patience with this chapter you guys are awesome I wont make any promises but I will try to get the next chapter out within the next two weeks.**

 **.Next Time On "** ** _Rumors And Liabilities_** **"**

 **.The Rumors of a viking tribe thought to have dragons have been all but forgotten by Elsa and her council. With the threat of viking raids posing a constant risk, Elsa has diverted most of her efforts into stopping the raids and providing relief to her people, rumors are the last of her concern. However a certain event occurs which reminds her of these 'Rumors'.**


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